Chapter 37 Reversed Four of Wands

Reversed Four of Wands, Reversed Six of Wands, Four of Swords

~~~~

When Grandpa Cordell arrived at the Mountain Medical Center Clinic, Tim demanded to be released. "I will just walk out of here. My daughter was flown to Durango for surgery."

"Mr. Ballard, we need to..."

He interrupted the nurse, "Let me out so I can go see my daughter. Or I will walk out of here."

She shook her head at his fierce glare and went to get the doctor. Tim began peeling off the sticky patches holding the electrode leads to his skin.

"Hold your horses, Tim." Cordell looked the monitor and shook his head, then stopped Tim's attempt to leave by looking at the electrical burn on the fleshy part of his palm below his thumb. The crescent moon-shaped burn wasn't blistering yet, but it would. "You were lucky you didn't close your hand around that sabotaged switch."

"After seeing someone else nearly killed, I learned fast to touch everything with an open hand on the rigs," Tim admitted, "Good habits came from growing up with electric fences."

Turning off the monitor, Grandpa Cordell nodded then handed over a bag of clothes. "I grabbed the ones on the top in the drawers."

"Thanks."

Tim was barely started dressing when the nurse came back with the doctor. She glanced up and down him then turned quickly and walked out as Tim pulled up his jeans, leaving the doctor behind.

"Mr. Ballard, I would rather you stay for monitoring for a few hours, but I understand your urgency. If you start feeling any chest pains, or your heart begins beating erratically, go straight to the Emergency Room and have them call me. Your EKG looks good for now.

"I'm fine, Doctor Smith. I have been shocked worse when I worked in the Pacific." At the doctor's confused look, Tim pulled a tee-shirt over his head as he confessed, "I used to work on oil rigs as an engineer. Several times they were hit by lightning. One time I had to resuscitate my coworker who was closer to the strike than me after a storm tore the grounding rod loo." Then he began buttoning his denim shirt over the tee-shirt.

"I am glad you got them back. You will probably have some bruising on your hip where you hit the edge of the pool, ice and ibuprofen are the best treatment."," Dr. Smith said as she typed on the virtual chart. "I'll send the nurse in with your discharge paperwork. I hope your daughter recovers quickly."

He only nodded as he sat down gingerly to tie his work boots, hating the fact his cowboy boots were soaked. Taking the papers from the nurse, Tim thanked her politely and walked out while he stuffed his wet clothes and boots in the duffle bag. As he limped out with their grandfather, he saw Lloyd walking toward them.

"I just got a text from Mitch... Tiana is out of surgery and in recovery. Camille has Sheridan." He frowned at his cousin. "Are you sure you are okay to go?"

Tim nodded, then smirked, "If lightning couldn't kill me in the middle of the Pacific almost blasting me off a rig, then a little shock and a splash in Tiana's pool won't kill me either. Tell Cam I'll pick up Sheridan..."

"No. Let her keep her tonight." Shaking his head, Lloyd suggested, "You need to stay with Tiana."

Cordell patted Lloyd's shoulder. "Call us if you need us."

As they drove toward Durango, Cordell glanced over at Tim. "That man is dead. Do you want to use my phone to call and tell Cassandra?"

Closing his eyes for a moment, Tim remembered the pain of her ignoring him as he begged to talk to her. "It's probably better she hear it from Erin."

"Don't give up on her, Tim. This maybe the thing that finally lets her start her recovery. Be patient."

"I know you mean well, Grandpa, but I'm cursed, and I know it."

"That's nonsense. You just fell in love with the wrong girl a long time ago. Why would you think that you are cursed?"

Looking out at the mountains turning to desert plateaus, Tim blinked to keep the tears from leaking. "Selene cursed me the night of the dance. She hasn't forgiven me. She told me she was sorry for what she said to me and Tiana and that she doesn't want to be enemies anymore. She and Lloyd are almost friends again but her and I... I don't know if things will ever be right between us." He looked at his fists and realized he couldn't see them without his glasses which were still in the pool at his house as he continued his confession. "I hurt her worse than even Tonia did because I did and said things to make her even more vulnerable. She loved me, Grandpa, and I loved her, but I was in lust with Tonia more. I betrayed Selene and she told me, no one would ever love me like she did and they haven't. I betrayed her and Lloyd and my karma hurt me and my daughter. Something is wrong with the way I love. Cassandra is better off without me. I'll probably just hurt her too. She's free now; she can go anywhere in the world. Not-Jay is dead, so she doesn't have to be afraid he'll find her and kill her like he planned."

Inhaling through his mouth, Tim exhaled through his nose as he blew it into the handkerchief his grandfather offered. Neither spoke for the rest of the long drive.

~~~~

Walking into the Durango hospital, Tim told them who he was. As his grandfather went to talk to Tiana's surgeon, Tim went to her room. He was surprised to see Mitch Abernathy sitting by Tiana.

"Mitch."

"Tim... The doctor said no major organs were hit and she will recover fully in a few weeks," Mitch revealed then apologized, "I am sorry I wasn't there to protect her."

"Mitch, we've been chasing this guy for months. We thought he was gone again after the stunt he pulled Christmas Day."

"What stunt?" Mitch looked confused.

"Your father didn't tell you?"

Mitch shook his head.

"He broke into our home and another woman's and left books wrapped in lingerie under the Christmas trees," Tim revealed then hesitated when Mitch suddenly looked pissed off.

"He didn't tell me because he wasn't worried." Mitch's fist clenched hard enough his knuckles cracked. "I think he and Claire caught him and were holding him at Dad's house by the reservoir. I should have known something was up when he didn't want me to come over and help him on his days off. He said he was going to remodel it this summer."

"I should have known." Tim gritted his teeth hard enough the squeaked against each other and Mitch smirked at him.

"You sound just like Lloyd."

Suddenly, Tim barked a laugh almost like a cough. In resignation, he admitted, "I guess I do."

"I'm going to see how Claire is and head home. Do you need a ride back to Pagosa, or can I bring you anything when I come back?"

"No, my grandpa is here. Thanks, Mitch. Bye." Tim watched Mitch go with a wave over his shoulder. The younger Abernathy never said goodbye, just like his father.

Sitting down, he took his daughter's hand and said a prayer of thanks that she survived yet another homicidal stalker.

~~~~

Erin's hand shook as he knocked on Cassandra's door then let himself in. "Sis?"

He saw the red light over her recording door was on and flipped the switch so she would know she had a guest. He began making her favorite tea while he waited.

She came out cautiously as it seeped, limping on the knee with the stitches in it. Blood had seeped through her leggings.

"Hi," she greeted him with such fake happiness, he stared at her in shock for a moment.

"Do you already know? Did Tim call you?"

Her cheerful façade fell with her eyes. Staring at the floor for a moment, she shook her head. "I broke things off with Tim."

Feeling heartsick and relieved at the same time was making Erin feel nauseous. He held out a mug of tea. "We need to sit down and talk... It's about the guy who killed Shivonne."

Shuddering, Cassie almost dropped the warm mug. She limped over to the couch and sat down. Her voice seemed to shrink in her throat as she tried to get the words. "He's here, isn't he? He's back."

"He's dead."

Her head snapped up as he sat down in the chair across from her. She stared at him wide-eyed. "He's... dead? How?"

"He tried to kill Tim to lure Tiana away from the school alone. He wasn't counting on her friend being with her. The girl shot and killed him to stop him from stabbing Tiana more. He also attacked a F.B.I. agent, burned a house, and stole a car. He's gone. He's dead. You're safe."

Erin looked so happy, but she couldn't process his words. She just sat very still, blinking at him like he was a mirage. She never imagined this moment. Her fear made it inconceivable that this day would come.

"Are... Are Tim and Tiana going to be okay?" She stammered out, putting her mug down. Miss Priss climbed into her lap, purring loudly.

"Tim is already out of the hospital. Tiana will be out in a few days and recovered in a few weeks." His buoyant mood seemed so out of place.

The man she loved had been attacked; his daughter almost murdered by the man who killed Shivonne. "Do they know his real name? Was it Ike?"

"I... I don't know." Erin watched her in confusion. "Aren't you happy? You're free to leave here now.

"Leave? I can't leave here," she argued.

"But you're safe, he's dead."

"What about all the other people out there?" she snapped almost hysterically. "What if he had a partner or several? He couldn't have killed all those people by himself." Panting, she clutched her giant cat to her chest. "I don't believe you. It's a trick. He's tricking us all."

Erin rose slowly. "Cassie, breathe. You need to calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down! Are you crazy?" She shrieked at him as she surged to her feet. "He kills cops as a hobby! He killed Detective Stonewall. Tim told me he killed the real Jay Lancaster who just graduated from police school in Montana and two other cops here in Pagosa County. How could some teenager kill him?!"

Miss Priss yowled in protest.

"Cassie, give me Priss. You're hurting her," Erin begged.

Suddenly, realizing what she was doing. Cassie sank back into her seat and loosened her grip on her cat. "I'm sorry, Priss," she sobbed out. "I'm so sorry."

Erin moved to sit beside her so he could side hug her, trying desperately to reassure her, "Look, I'll ask Lloyd if the FBI agent who was working with him will come and talk to you. Okay? It's going to be alright, it's over now."

After several minutes of gut-wrenching sobs, she whimpered, "What if I am never okay?"

"Sis, we talked about this." Erin pressed a kiss to her temple. "You can live and work from here while Nick and I run the clinic for as long as you need."

He stayed with his sister until she went to sleep then dragged himself back to the cottage he shared with Nick. Dinner was in the oven and smelled amazing, but Erin couldn't eat. He heard Nick come up behind him.

"She freaked out," Erin muttered in defeat. "I thought she would be happy. I thought she would celebrate with me, but she started shouting that it was a trick, and that the guy was a cop killer. Now she wants to talk to the FBI agent working with the Sheriff Department. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to help her." He turned and hugged Nick, weeping for his sister.

His fiance held him for a long time, saying nothing. The strength and firm embrace of the man he loved kept Erin from collapsing.

"I don't know what to do?" Erin whispered again.

Nick looked down at him in loving concern. "We do what we have to do. If she wants to talk to the FBI, I'll tell Lloyd."

"What if she never gets better?" Erin voiced his fear.

"Did you tell her she could stay in her box canyon if she needed to?" Nick asked because they had discussed many times that Cassie may never be well enough to leave her isolation.

"Yes... But I don't want her to live that life... You didn't see her before. How much she loved life and traveling and having adventures. She was so much like our grandmother before that night," Erin admitted.

Nick kissed him then put his forehead against his lover's. "PTSD is a difficult thing. I know my cousin talks to a therapist at least once a month."

"Lloyd was in the war."

"Wasn't that night Cassie's war? She found her best friend murdered, then, while she was so sick, she could barely stand, she was attacked and raped as Shivonne hung there dead above her." Nick ran his thumb along Erin's jaw. "I can't even imagine it. It must have been like being trapped in a horror movie. She is the only one who can decide that the movie is over, until then we support her as she needs us to, and we pray for her. You and I are in this together. We won't fail."

Erin could see the worry and hope for Cassie in Nick's turquoise eyes. He felt flushed as he breathlessly said, "I love you so much, cowboy."

Half-smiling, Nick bent his neck and whispered against Erin's lips. "I love you too, darlin'."